"Mom always gets happy when she sees items on sale for 50% off at the supermarket, so... it shouldn’t be a loss, right?"

Hitori clenched her small fists, finding reasons for herself in her heart while holding her breath, slowly moving her burning face towards Kitahara Makoto.

Fortunately, the night was hazy at this moment, and Hitori’s courage had grown just a tiny bit. If it were daytime, she definitely wouldn’t be as brave as she was now.

Kitahara Makoto sat quietly by the bed, waiting, not rushing, for fear of scaring away Hitori, who had rarely mustered such courage.

A moment later.

A cool, soft touch finally came upon his lips, reaching deep into Kitahara Makoto’s heart.

Their eyes met.

Hitori’s long eyelashes trembled in panic, and she quickly closed her eyes shyly.

After a while longer, Kitahara Makoto finally felt Hitori shyly begin her next movement, bringing a cool minty scent, like a small snake that only dared to forage in the dead of night, cautiously and shyly probing...

Who knows how much time passed.

A soft ’pop’ finally broke the silence in the room.

This was followed by the sound of the girl’s hurried breathing, as if she had run a thousand meters in one go, too out of breath to speak.

"Thank you for the meal."

Kitahara Makoto raised his hand to wipe the silk thread from the corner of his lips, and said with burning eyes:

"I’m very satisfied with the reward, but there are still four more times left, let’s continue."

"No, no more..."

Hitori was panting, her small face almost dripping blood. Upon hearing this, she quickly shook her head with teary eyes:

"I can’t breathe... Let’s, let’s rest for a bit..."

Looking at the flushed Hitori, Kitahara Makoto’s appetite was greatly stimulated, and he lowered his voice and said:

"If Hitori feels too tired, I can actually give Hitori a 90% discount coupon."

"Eh... 90% off?"

Hitori’s eyes immediately brightened.

Although her math was terrible, she knew what a 90% discount coupon meant.

She would only need one more time to pay off all her debts, right?

Kitahara Makoto held Hitori’s small hand and said with burning eyes:

"As long as Hitori helps out like she did before in the Onsen Village, all debts will be wiped clean."

Hitori’s small head instantly overheated and overloaded. She recalled helping out in a daze that day in the Onsen Village, and her sense of shame immediately overflowed:

"No, no..."

(Absolutely not!)

(That kind of thing is really too terrifying!)

(Not only will both arms be useless, but there might also be a strange smell left in the room. If Mom finds out...)

Hitori only had to imagine those scenes for a moment, and her shame flooded out.

"No, no more 90% discount."

Hitori’s eyes were watery, and she quickly shook her head.

Kitahara Makoto looked regretful:

"Does Hitori want to reconsider?"

"No... Mom will find out..."

"Alright then."

Seeing Hitori explode with shame, Kitahara Makoto, though regretful, still chose to give up. He would never force Hitori no matter what.

Thump, thump.

A knock on the door suddenly sounded.

Hitori jumped in fright:

"S-someone’s knocking!"

Kitahara Makoto quietly said: "I heard it."

"Kitahara-kun, hide quickly." Hitori said anxiously, "There’s space inside the closet..."

But before she could finish speaking, the door had already been pushed open, and a small sprout, holding a rabbit doll, walked in pitifully:

"Sister, the lightning is so scary, I want to sleep with Sister."

(Oh, no...)

Hitori’s shame instantly exploded.

(Kitahara-kun is going to be discovered...)

(With Futari’s personality, she’ll definitely tell Mom, right?)

(When Mom finds out tomorrow, she’ll definitely say a lot of super embarrassing things...)

(No! Absolutely not that future!)

The next second.

The phone’s flashlight suddenly went out.

"Sister, don’t turn off the light." The small sprout immediately became nervous, "Futari can’t see anymore."

"W-wait a moment..."

Hitori frantically found her phone, then felt a gentle poke at her waist. Turning her head, Kitahara Makoto was already hiding under the covers.

"Don’t panic, Futari probably didn’t see me." Kitahara Makoto whispered, "Otherwise she would have called out just now."

"Phew..."

Hearing Kitahara Makoto’s words, Hitori immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

(That’s right, Futari definitely didn’t see Kitahara-kun, otherwise she would have already called Onii-chan.)

Thinking of this, Hitori immediately calmed down and turned on her phone’s flashlight for illumination:

"Futari... Weren’t you already asleep?"

Futari ran over, hugging her doll, and said with teary eyes:

"The lightning just now was so scary, Sister must have been woken up by it too, right?"

Hitori: "..."

I’m sorry.

I had my eyes closed the whole time, so I had no idea there was scary lightning outside.

"The power’s out, and it’s so dark in the room. I want to sleep with Sister tonight."

As Futari spoke, she prepared to cross over Hitori and climb into the inner part of the bed.

"W-wait a moment!"

Hitori’s heart immediately leaped into her throat, and she quickly reached out to hug Futari.

"Sister, what’s wrong?"

Futari looked up in confusion.

Hitori’s small face was burning, and she stammered:

"Futari, you sleep on the outside tonight."

"Eh?" Futari tilted her head, confused, "But Sister always let me sleep on the inside before. Why are you making me sleep on the outside tonight?"

Because Kitahara-kun is at the very end of the bed, you’ll find him if you go there!

"Th-that..."

Hitori stammered, but unfortunately, she wasn’t quick-witted and couldn’t find a reason to appease Futari for a while.

Instead, Futari blinked, and a look of sudden understanding appeared on her small face:

"Ah, I know!"

Hitori flinched and looked over nervously:

"What did Futari find out?"

"Hm-hm." Futari’s small face broke into a triumphant smile, "I already know my sister’s secret."

Hitori’s vision went dark at the words, and her vivid imagination instantly kicked in—

"Eh, eh, eh, Onii-chan, why are you on big sister’s bed?"

Futari’s eyes widened, discovering Kitahara Makoto’s presence.

"I asked Kitahara-kun to come help." Hitori knelt down, tears welling up, her eyes pleading, "Please, don’t tell Mom. I’ll buy Futari ice cream and snacks tomorrow, I beg you."

"Don’t worry, big sister." Futari patted her small chest, promising, "I’ll definitely keep it a secret."

"That’s good..."

Just as Hitori breathed a sigh of relief, she saw Futari suddenly take a deep breath, her cheeks puffing out, and then she turned and ran out of the room, shouting loudly:

"Mom, Onii-chan is on big sister’s bed!"

Futari’s shout echoed through the house, instantly spreading everywhere.

Mrs. Goto, hearing the shout, appeared immediately, found Kitahara Makoto hiding in the room, and instantly clasped her hands together, a happy expression on her face as she said:

"Marriage! Get married right after high school graduation!"

"We’ll make red bean rice tomorrow and give it to the neighbors and relatives."

"I’ll be a grandmother soon, so happy..."

(Ahhh! No... absolutely not that kind of thing!)

Just as Hitori was teary-eyed, thinking her imagination was about to become reality, Futari suddenly leaned over, her eyes wide and round:

"Big sister must have wet the bed, right?"

Hitori was dumbfounded:

"...Eh?"

"Don’t deny it, big sister." Futari crossed her arms, her tone certain, "Your face is so red, and you won’t let me sleep on the inside, so you must have accidentally wet the bed, right?"

"When I wet the bed before, I also didn’t want Mom and big sister to know, it felt so embarrassing..."

Hitori bit her lower lip. After a quick decision, she soon took a deep breath and whispered:

"Futari found out..."

Since Futari misunderstood, it was only natural to let Futari continue to misunderstand. In any case, Kitahara-kun’s presence could not be exposed.

"Hmph." Futari snorted triumphantly, "I knew big sister must have wet the bed."

Hitori’s small face was burning hot. She quickly hid under the covers, turning her body to block Kitahara Makoto, and said in a shameful voice:

"Um... about me wetting the bed, Futari, you absolutely must not tell Mom."

"Don’t worry, big sister." The little sprout patted her chest and promised, "Futari definitely won’t tell Mom."

Hitori let out a soft breath:

"Futari, hurry and lie down to sleep."

Hitori had no expectations whatsoever for Futari’s ability to keep a secret. Now she only hoped Futari would fall asleep soon so that Kitahara Makoto could sneak back.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.

Futari, hugging her doll, lay comfortably beside Hitori, her eyes wide and round, clearly not sleepy at all:

"Big sister, I want to hear the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf."

Hitori stammered:

"It’s very late now, Futari, go to sleep first, shall we talk about it tomorrow?"

"No~" The little bean started to whine, "Futari wants to hear it now. I can only fall asleep after hearing big sister’s story."

"I, I’ll tell it then..."

Hitori had no choice but to agree.

"Once upon a time, there lived a little girl in a village... Ah!"

The girl’s shy gasp escaped her lips.

"Big sister, what’s wrong?"

Futari’s expression was puzzled.

"N-nothing..." Hitori’s small face was flushed, and she said tearfully, "Th-there was a mosquito just now..."

This was a lie.

Hitori’s gasp just now had nothing to do with a mosquito, but with Kitahara Makoto behind her.

Kitahara Makoto, hiding under the covers, had nothing to do, so his attention naturally focused on Hitori. Smelling Hitori’s sweet fragrance, he couldn’t help but feel restless. So, he preemptively transformed into the Big Bad Wolf from the story, hiding under the covers and teasing Hitori.

Bocchi-brand ice cream, not only had an excellent texture that melted in the mouth, but its feel was also superb, making it impossible to let go.

"L-Little Red Riding Hood came into the forest and started picking, picking, picking, picking mushrooms..."

Hitori dared not move, fearing that Futari would accidentally discover the truth. So, she could only reluctantly let Kitahara grab her small hand, enduring the fate of being teased by the Big Bad Wolf from behind, while intermittently telling the story.

At this moment, reality and the story were clearly in sync.

"Big sister is so strange today." Futari’s tone was puzzled, "Why is your breathing so rapid?"

Hitori stammered:

"B-because it’s a bit hot..."

Futari: "Then shall we kick off the blanket?"

"No!"

Hitori quickly denied it.

"If we don’t cover ourselves, we might catch a cold... It won’t be hot in a while."

"Okay." Futari blinked, "Why does big sister’s voice tremble when she speaks?"

"Because... because..."

Hitori was teary-eyed, her shame hovering on the brink of explosion, her mind almost turning to mush.

(How awful, Futari is right next to me, I’ll be discovered if I’m not careful, right?)

(I really want to go back into Mom’s tummy, or turn into a plankton that doesn’t need to think, then I wouldn’t be ashamed...)

Just as Hitori’s thoughts wandered, a knock on the door sounded again.

Bang bang.

The door was quickly pushed open, and Mrs. Goto walked into the room, a clear expression of nervousness on her face.

"Mom––"

Futari quickly sat up, took a deep breath, her baby fat cheeks puffed out, and then she put her hands to her mouth and shouted loudly:

"Big sister wet the bed!"

Hitori: "..."

Too much.

So much!

What happened to not secretly telling?

She already shouted it out loud!

"Eh, Hitori wet the bed?"

Mrs. Goto walked over in surprise.

"Um..."

Hitori parted her lips, and finally nodded, tears welling up.

No choice, she would rather ’wet the bed’ herself than expose the secret of Kitahara-kun being in the bed.

"We’ll change the sheets later." Mrs. Goto didn’t care about the bedwetting, but said with a nervous expression, "I just went to the bathroom and heard a strange sound outside."

"Eh?"

"It was a flapping, scary noise, and Dad isn’t home, so I’m worried a thief might break in. Let’s quickly lock the door..."

Kitahara Makoto leaned to Hitori’s ear and whispered:

"Could it be that sparrow again?"

Hitori reacted and quickly spoke about what had just happened, then stood up and said:

"Mom, don’t worry, it should be a bird..."

Mrs. Goto was half-skeptical: "Are you sure there won’t be a thief?"

Hitori quickly said:

"There’s a typhoon outside, the weather is so terrible, thieves wouldn’t go out, would they?"

"That makes sense..."

"Mom, just take a look and you won’t be scared anymore."

While Mrs. Goto was opening the door, Hitori quickly whispered:

"Kitahara-kun, hurry back."

"Understood." Kitahara Makoto quietly replied, "Hitori will continue to repay the remaining debt tomorrow."

Hitori: "..."

As the mother and two daughters left the room, Kitahara Makoto silently summoned Tomori, then slipped into the mirror and disappeared.

"I’m back."

Kitahara Makoto stood in the bathroom, looking out, and could see that the living room light had been extinguished.

"Power outage?"

Kitahara Makoto pushed the door open and walked out of the bathroom, his body instantly stiffening.

Soyo, Anon, Tomori, Mutsumi, and also Nijika, Ryo, and Kita... all the girls’ gazes fell simultaneously on him.

Kitahara Makoto cleared his throat twice, raised his right hand, and said as nonchalantly as possible:

"Good evening, everyone."

Mutsumi: "Makoto-kun, welcome back."

Anon puffed out her cheeks: "What did Kitahara-kun go to do?"

Soyo was curious: "Could it be that he was with Togawa-chan?"

Kita crossed her arms: "I thought Kitahara-kun wasn’t coming back tonight."

Yamada Ryo: "...Sneaky Kitahara."

Don’t talk nonsense, I wasn’t being sneaky!

Kitahara Makoto said calmly:

"Actually, I was just at Hitori’s house."

"Eh?" Nijika looked over in surprise, "How could Hitori agree to be with you..."

Halfway through her sentence, Nijika quickly covered her lips.

Kita’s eyes widened and she said: "There must be some special reason, right?"

"Kita is very smart."

Kitahara Makoto praised her, then smoothly changed the subject:

"Let’s go to the onsen first, and then we can talk while we soak..."

"..."

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

When Kitahara Makoto woke up in the morning, it was still pouring rain outside, clearly indicating the typhoon had not yet passed.

Gently moving Mutsumi’s arm and leg that were draped over him, Kitahara Makoto quietly got up and went downstairs.

Click.

Kitahara Makoto tried pressing the switch, but the chandelier didn’t respond at all, indicating the power had not yet been restored.

"First, I’ll wash my face and brush my teeth."

Outside, the wind and rain were gloomy, and inside the house was dim, but Kitahara Makoto didn’t care; his Extraordinary Vision allowed him to see clearly.

Arriving at the bathroom, Kitahara Makoto brushed his teeth while opening the System to check today’s mission content.

"Hmm?"

Upon seeing one of today’s mission contents, a subtle expression immediately appeared on Kitahara Makoto’s face.

"Weighted push-ups..."

The last time the weighted push-ups had Taki as the limited character, but this time it wasn’t Taki, but a more troublesome limited character.

"Mai-senpai... and it must be Mai-senpai wearing a bunny girl costume."

Kitahara Makoto twitched his lips slightly; trying to convince Mai to wear a bunny girl costume and then sit on him as a ’weight’ seemed like a hellish difficulty.

However, when soldiers come, block them; when water comes, cover it with earth. Although the difficulty was high, there might still be a chance...

"Papa."

Hana, with her short legs, suddenly walked up to Kitahara Makoto. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"What’s wrong?"

Kitahara Makoto looked down.

Hana tilted her small face: "Awake."

Kitahara Makoto didn’t understand for a moment:

"What do you mean?"

Hana tilted her head, thought for a moment, then extended her right hand. A phantom sky flower quietly bloomed, revealing a tear drop inside that emitted a faint light:

"The soul is awake."

Kitahara Makoto felt his heart suddenly skip a beat, and he involuntarily became nervous:

"Are you saying Nana has woken up?"

In Kitahara Makoto’s view, the ten years in the dream were actually another life in a parallel world. Zhuangzi dreamed he was a butterfly, and the butterfly dreamed it was Zhuangzi; there was no need to distinguish them too clearly.

At that time, in Otherworld, Hana devoured the bad flower, and Kitahara Makoto and Mai woke up from the dream. Nana’s soul miraculously came from the dream into reality, but it was too weak and could only be nourished by Hana. Until today, Nana’s soul finally woke up.

Kitahara Makoto could clearly hear his heart beating rapidly. He took a deep breath, decisively pulled out his phone, and eagerly wanted to share the good news with Mai.

However, after the message was sent, it remained unread.

"Is she still asleep?"

Kitahara Makoto suppressed his impatience and waited patiently.

As time passed, the girls gradually woke up and came downstairs. Kitahara Makoto occasionally glanced at his phone, but the message he sent to Mai remained unread.

"Ah..."

Kita bit into her bread and suddenly exclaimed, holding up her phone:

"I just saw someone post a video on Twitter! Strange mist has appeared in Kamakura City and has already engulfed half of Kamakura. There are terrifying sounds within the mist, and ordinary people who enter it lose contact and never come out!"